Kirkpatrick didn’t hesitate to praise Bates for his instincts, as he told the media:

“His awareness. His quickness. He made a play today, where a receiver caught the ball, TB caught the ball, and he was right there. He almost knocked it out. Just to see the instinct of him, that’s what we need, we need instinctive guys in the secondary to make big plays. Everything’s not x’s and o’s, sometimes you see the ball you just gotta go get it.”

Bates’ instincts were one of the biggest talking points surrounding his game as he came out of Wake Forest. He had the athletic range to cover all over the field, though range doesn’t mean much without recognition and instincts.

From the sounds of it, Bates is already flashing both at NFL speeds in camp. He’ll still have to prove it again when the pads go on and real contests during the preseason get underway.

But for now? This is exactly what the Bengals want to see and what fans should want to hear. Besides Billy Price, Bates could have the biggest rookie impact next season if he can permit guys like George Iloka and Shawn Williams to play closer to the line of scrimmage.

An injury to Williams has allowed Bates to get an extended look in OTAs and it’s clear he’s making the most of it.